HP Photosmart Pro B9180 Photo Printer Troubleshooting

Setting up the Printer Hardware

Introduction

This document describes how to set up the printer and prepare it for use.

Important: Perform all of the setup steps in the order shown.

Setup the printer

WARNING:Do NOT open the top lid of the printer and remove the setup caps and/or install the print heads before prompted to do so by the printer LCD screen during initialization. If the setup caps are removed before the printer is ready, the initialization will fail.

Step one: Unpack the printer and check the box contents

Remove the blue protective film, tape, and packaging from the outside of the printer.
NOTE:Do not open the printer doors or trays yet. If the door on the front of the printer (the specialty media tray) opened during unpacking, return it to its upright position.
Position the printer on the work surface leaving at least 48 cm (19 inches) of clear space behind the printer. This allows paper to pass through the rear paper slot without bending.

Check the contents of the box:

Component	Notes
HP Photosmart Pro B9100 series printer
8 Ink cartridges
4 Printheads
USB cable ¹	May not be included in all countries/regions.
Power cord	May also include an adapter in some countries/regions
User documentation	Includes Quick Setup Booklet and User Guide
Photo paper storage bag	Protects photo paper from humidity
Calibration pack	Paper for setup
HP Photosmart software on CD	Includes software for both Windows and Macintosh

¹ Standard USB cable available at most retail outlets

Step two: Connect the power and set the language

NOTE:Windows users: Do not connect the USB cable until you are prompted during software installation.

Ensure that all the printer doors are closed.
Connect the power cord to the printer and to a wall outlet. The printer will turn on automatically. Wait a few moments for the printer to start up.
Figure 1: Connecting the power
When Set Language [English] is displayed on the printer screen, do one of the following:
From now on, the printer screen will use the selected language.
Figure 2: Setting the language

Step three: Install the ink cartridges

NOTE:All eight ink cartridges must be correctly installed for the printer to work.

Ensure that all the printer doors are closed.
Open the ink cartridge door by pressing the raised bumps until the door clicks open.
Figure 3: Opening the ink cartridge door
Before unwrapping the ink cartridges, hold each one vertically (with one of the short ends up) and shake it well, at least six times.
Unwrap the ink cartridges.
Figure 4: Opening the cartridges
Insert each cartridge into its color-coded stall. Press firmly on the cartridges to ensure proper contact.
Figure 5: Inserting the cartridges
Close the ink cartridge door and wait a few moments.
The printer primes the ink cartridges to start the flow of ink and purge air from the ink line.

Step four: Open the printhead assembly

When prompted by the message on the printer screen, raise the top door of the printer.
Figure 6: Open the top door
Figure 7: Opening the top door
Remove the tape and packaging from the inside of the printer.
Raise the blue printhead assembly cover. Pull the cover forward by the handle, and then raise it up out of the way.
Figure 8: Pulling the handle forward
Figure 9: Raising the cover

Step five: Remove the setup caps

Remove each transparent orange setup cap by grasping its tabs and pulling up firmly.
Figure 10: Removing the orange caps
Figure 11: Orange caps
The caps may be difficult to remove. It is normal for some of the setup caps to contain ink and others to be empty.
Discard the caps.
NOTE:If you do not remove the setup caps, you will not be able to install the printheads in the next step.

Step six: Install the printheads

NOTE:All four printheads must be correctly installed for the printer to work.

Before unwrapping the printheads, hold each one vertically (with one of the short ends up) and shake it well, at least six times.
Figure 12: Printhead package
Open each printhead package. Do not touch the gold-colored contacts when removing the printhead from the package.
NOTE:Prepare the printhead nozzles as directed in the instructions that came with the printheads.
Figure 13: Do not touch the gold-colored contacts
Remove and discard the orange protective covers.
Figure 14: Removing the orange covers
NOTE:Do not shake the printheads after removing the covers as this can create air bubbles in the ink.
Insert each printhead into its color-coded stall. Press straight down on the printhead until it is all the way in.
Figure 15: Installing a printhead
Lower the open printhead assembly cover so that it clips under the metal bar, and then fold the cover back down to its original position.
Close the top door. The printer initialization process begins.
CAUTION:Do not open any of the doors during this process! If you do, the printer initialization will stop.

Step seven: Load the calibration pack in the main tray

During the printer initialization process, the printer prompts you to load the calibration pack in the main tray. The calibration pack came in the printer box and is used to print initialization, alignment, and calibration pages.

Remove the output tray completely. Grasp the sides of the tray with both hands, slide it toward you, then lift and set it aside. The main tray is now accessible.
Figure 16: Removing the output tray
Place the calibration pack into the main tray, print side down and in portrait orientation. Align the paper against the right side of the tray and against the paper stops. Ensure that the paper does not go past the paper stops or it will jam.
Figure 17: Loading the calibration pack
1 - Paper stops
2 - Paper width guide
3 - Paper length guide
Adjust the paper-width and paper-length guides so they rest gently against the edges of the paper.
NOTE:Check that the paper is lying flat in the tray so that it does not jam in the printer.
Slide the output tray back into place.
Pull out the output tray extension by holding the output tray with one hand and pulling out the extension with your other hand.
Figure 18: Pulling out the tray extension
1 - Paper catch
2 - Output tray extension
Flip up the paper catch at the end of the output tray extension to prevent paper from falling onto the floor.
When you finish loading the calibration pack, press OK to continue.
Several pages will print. This will take some time, possibly more than 20 minutes. You may use this time to install the printer software.
When Ready is displayed on the printer screen, the printer initialization is complete.

Step eight: Load paper in the main tray

Load a stack of paper in the main tray. The main tray can hold and auto-load multiple sheets of paper. Load only thin, flexible media into this tray, because the paper bends as it passes through the printer.

NOTE:Do not load more than one size and type of paper in the main tray at the same time.

Remove the output tray completely. Grasp the sides of the tray with both hands, slide it toward you, then lift and set it aside. The main tray is now accessible.
Figure 19: Removing the output tray
Extend and remove the main tray by squeezing the main tray release and pulling the tray toward you.
Figure 20: Main tray
1 - Tray release
2 - Paper-size markings
Pull out the paper-length guide as far as it will go.
Figure 21: Main tray parts
1 - Paper stops
2 - Paper-length guide
3 - Tray extension for large paper
4 - Paper-width guide
Slide the paper-width guide far enough to the left to make room for the paper. Place a stack of paper in the tray, print side down and in portrait orientation. Use the paper-size markings as a guide. Align the paper against the right side of the tray and against the paper stops at the end of the tray. Ensure that the paper does not go past the paper stops.
Figure 22: Loaded main tray
After you have loaded paper in the tray, replace the main tray in the printer. Push in the extension to the end of the paper by squeezing the release and pushing in the tray.
Figure 23: Replacing the main tray
NOTE:To prevent the paper from buckling, set the paper-length guide against the paper after you have reseated the main tray in the printer and pushed in the main tray extension to fit the paper.
Adjust the paper-width and paper-length guides so they rest gently against the edges of the paper.
Slide the output tray back into the printer. Pull out the output tray extension by holding the output tray with one hand, and pulling out the extension with your other hand.
Flip up the paper catch at the end of the output tray extension to prevent paper from falling onto the floor.

Step nine: Load the printer software

Follow the steps below to load the printer software

NOTE:For Windows USB installation, do not connect the USB cable until you are prompted.

NOTE:The standard USB cable can be purchased at most retail outlets.

Insert the product CD into the CD-ROM drive on the computer.
Follow the instructions that display on the screen.
If the installation does not start automatically, do the following:
Click Start .
Click Run . The Run dialog box displays.
In the Open: text box, type D:\setup.exe , where D is the letter of the CD-ROM drive, and then click OK .

Download the printer driver

You can also download the printer software by going to HP's Web site.

Connect the computer to the Internet and go to www.hp.com/support.
Select your country/region.
Type the HP Photosmart B9180 printer in the Search box.
Click Software & Driver downloads .
Click your operating system and click the link for the driver.
Follow the onscreen instructions.